The Better than Nothing Presidency

The third leg of the "century best" reform, the financial reform bill, is close to its final approval. Tauted as the most import reform since the Spanish Inquisition, it consists of a large collection of watered down items mostly compromised to almost certain death. After the similarly anemic health care reform, the "first ever," that is going to take place when we all get much older and an awful and misguided educational reform, we are now the proud owners of three reforms that the most complimentary thing you can say about them is that they are better than nothing.

The education reform contradict scientific findings, it continues the vacuous ideas of no child left behind and grants money to some states but not to others. The health care reform totally ignores the cost issue, the issue that bedevils the country> As a result the insurance companies and the pharmaceuticals will still control health care. Any pipe dreams of improved quality, new measures and better outcomes will take place only if we pay the controllers of health care even more than we pay today. Even the almost total coverage of the population is a mirage. The cost of total coverage will be too high for the vast majority of uncovered individuals to afford.

Now comes the Wall Street pretend reform that will leave the enormous banks untouched. The few new limits put on them will be avoided within a few month by the best lawyers and the best financial tricksters around. The banks will continue to be 40% of the GDP and will continue to do exactly what they want.

Obama's better than nothing "reforms" has a much harsher and malignant impact. We will get poorer and poorer as a country as a result of allocating enormous resources to health care. Our industry will not recover if banks continue to be about half the national product. Our kids education will continue to deteriorate because the alleged reform not only doesn't improve education but it get's us deeper and deeper into the test instead of study paradigm.

Are we getting the president we deserve or are we punished for some hidden reason?